I agree. There is a saying that I've heard "to identify the friendly". There
may be people who work in the city departments or legislators that are really
supportive. The following is a little dialog that I got from another listserv
that I just love. I have gotten the author's approval, and have been
forwarding it far and wide. :-)
Even though this started with diabetes, this dialog really can apply to
anything.
****************************************************************************************************
Bob: "It isn't an epidemic of diabetes?"
Jane: "Nope"
Bob: "Then what is it?"
Jane: "It's the system. It's the poverty - not just the coin in the pocket
- I'm talking about the poverty in spirit, community, relationships ya know.
Gotta change the system. It doesn't help the poor people, the vulnerable
little guy, the average joe like you or me. It's like the system's forgotten
us all. Well maybe it's just a runaway train that's squishing everything."
Bob: "So what do we do about it?"
Jane: "Sometimes you just can't be the bull running up against the wall all
the time. Sometimes you gotta find the window , door in the wall or the crack.
The thing that'll let you sneak into the minds of people."
Bob: "What the hell are you talking about?"
Jane: "Never heard of that? The guys in the know called it "cutting at the
edges" or "finding the chink in the armour". You never run into the wall, ya
know? You probe it, search it, look for the cracks 'always' keeping in mind
your main goal. You do it strategically - you going to ram the wall, don't -
ram the crack. Always bring things back to the goal. Sometimes you got to
like water, you flow around, you wear it down, you find da cracks, weak spots,
wear down the mortar."
Bob: "Let me guess - all to fix the system right?"
Jane: "Yeah. Knowledge ain't going to do it alone - got to get to the
emotional side behind the wall. Got to play the game, use every card right and
bring down the house, build it up again."
Bob: "So where's one of the cracks? What's one of da 'symbols'?"
Jane: "Food. Diabetes. Obesity. Malnutrition. Environment. Climate
change. Agriculture. Things like that. Gotta adapt, sooner or later the
situation shifts, the wall changes - seize the advantage while you got it.
Poverty, inequities - got to bring it in after you make a breach - then make it
big".
Bob: "I get ya. Pressure's building eh?"
Jane: "Yeah. Gotta remember there's a lot of other people who are looking
for cracks. The wall's big, if we all work together we could breach the wall,
bring it down... We got to be a big wedge & hammer ya see or a tidal wave of
wind or sand. The wall's all unified so we have to too. Every grain counts."
Bob: "So then it's down to whose got da bigger, well run group..."
Jane: (laughs) Yeah, the dice are rolling now... I think we've all got the
guts to pull this off.
Bob: "Yeah, I think so!"
Jane: "What do we got to lose..."
Fred Conrad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Jim,
Something about the subject line of your post seems wrong. I can't put
my finger on it, but it just isn't working for me. Have you been
putting super-glue in the door locks of their cars again?
One thing I'd do on the sly is organize a garden club meeting and
everyone who got in should be able to exchange around to get their
original plots back. You've seen the bumper sticker "question
authority" no doubt. I'd look for any way you can comply with the
letter and not the intent of that law. Comply with the lottery, then
nullify the effect!
And just by the way, when you say "the City" are we speaking of an
elected city council or an appointed head of a beurocratic department?
Are there layers of neighborhood associations, neighborhood planning
units, state assembly districts etc etc that you can go to one by one by
one and gather letters of support/sanction? I've seen U.S. House of
Representatives and entourage at community gardens, I've seen the Mayor,
I've seen city council persons, maybe one or two of them smiling and
waving would convince whoever in "the City" has a developer buddy who's
looking for some quid pro quo?
Ah, what do I know? Good luck. Don't let them railroad you, but be
careful not to get too confrontational either -- that's a slippery
slope!
fgc
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love.
- Lao Tzu
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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